Top 10 Favorite Beers

At last, the long-awaited favorite beers post! You probably didn’t even know it was coming, but I’ve been putting this post together in my head and on paper for months. Some of the categories needed some research, so we had to do a little taste testing before choosing favorites.

The following beers win best of show for me in each of their respective categories. These are not my top 10 favorite beers of all time (if they were they might all be pumpkin beer!) but my favorites in a variety of styles. If I go to a bar and see one of these, I get excited!

Bourbon Barrel Stout (Two Because It’s A Favorite Style)

#1 Bluegrass Brewing Bourbon Barrel Stout – Quite popular for a craft brew, you’ll find this on a lot of menus. It’s probably my most ordered beer! It’s not a bitter + coffee stout or light and flat like Guinness. It’s very thick, smooth, vanilla and sweetness. The bourbon is actually detectable but doesn’t blast your palate with alcohol. Drinkable enough that you’ll want two!

VIDEOS

#2 New Holland Dragon’s Milk – When I first had this I took a sip, swallowed, and exclaimed “WOW what am I drinking!?” It’s rich and thick and sweet – high alcohol (no surprise since I love the flavor of high alcohol beers). Not super roasty, it’s more of a bourbon-brown ale. So rich that you can’t drink more than a couple.

IPA

#3 Lagunitas Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ – I really love all of Lagunitas’ beers. Perhaps it’s the type of hops they use? Or the fact that many of them are malty sweet and higher alcohol? Or maybe because we visited the brewery and had a blast! I can pretty much count on ordering anything from them and liking it.

Double IPA

#4 Dogfish 90 Double IPA – Every time I have this beer I like it a little bit more. In fact, I think I have the Dogfish 90 (and the 120) to thank for teaching me to like hops! They have really grown on me in the past few years. I don’t like IPAs that are super bitter, and this one is on the sweet end of the spectrum – almost a barleywine.

Pumpkin

#5 Schlafly Pumpkin – You’ve heard this before, but the Schlafly Pumpkin loves to steal my heart in taste tests. Read more about it and all its pumpkin friends here!

#6 Southern Tier Pumking – Pumking is just so damn good. It’s not even a pumpkin beer – it’s a toffee vanilla butterbeer. You must find it and hoard to drink it year round because it disappears from stores fast. Bonus points if you can find it on tap like I did this day!

Local

# 7 A tie: Starr Hill Northern Lights and Blue Mountain’s Dark Hollow – Northern Lights wins because every time Matt orders this and I have a sip I ask him what it is, surprised that something so good is being served at a beer festival or local event where often mass-marketed beers are served. It’s really good for an IPA and I’m picking this for its consistency over some of the seasonal local beers that I might have liked more but disappeared with the change of the wind.

The Dark Hollow is a Bourbon Barrel Stout and Blue Mountain makes some good beer! It’s a smoother one with some light coffee and vanilla flavors coming through. This is part of their Barrel House series, which has become an entirely new brewery for them, and everything from this line is great!

Brown Ale

#8 Moose Drool – A shout out to the moose! First off, I think the name “moose drool” is probably the most brilliant beer name EVER. Second, this brown ale is just all-around good. It’s what Matt bases many of his home-brewed brown ale’s off of, so while I don’t get to taste the real thing very often, I feel like I drink Moose Drool all the time. It’s a malty, balanced, drinkable beer. With just a hint of saliva ; )

Scottish Strong Ale

#9 Founders Dirty Bastard – Being married to a beer aficionado, I’ve learned a lot about beer over the years. But sometimes I still have to ask him for recommendations: “What would I like on this menu?” I’ve learned that he knows my taste better than I do, and Scottish Strong Ales (along with Belgian Strong Darks) are often recommended. Dirty Bastard is great and has all of my favorite characteristics in a beer: strong, full-bodied, high alcohol, slightly sweet, caramel malt, and fruity esters.

Barleywine

#10 Stone Old Guardian – The reason this post is so long coming is because we could not choose a favorite barleywine! I frequently gravitate to barleywines on menus so I knew I wanted the category represented, but when it came down to picking one to put on the love list one didn’t stand out from the rest and I kept getting disappointed by too many hops. When we had Old Guardian at a party recently I declared it “really good” and settled on it for this category. But the hunt is sort of still on!

YES! Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’ is my favorite! The first time I had it I thought “Wow, this is what a fantastic beer tastes like”. I also had the chance to drink it at the source when visiting my best friend in Petaluma 🙂

I haven’t tried any of these! Although I’m only 1/2 Chinese, I (luckily, not) received the ‘Asian glow’ genes from my mom. It’s hard to drink out of the house whenever I want, I have to be choosy and decide if we’re going to do anything after that warrants a red face. Yikes!

LOVE this (and I’m pinning it for future reference). My husband works for Cigar City Brewing, based in Tampa, so I’m certainly biased…but I really do love those beers (and so does everyone we introduce them to). And I also love his pumpkin spice homebrew.

My fave beers/ales are Canadian though I am an Oregonian. Moosehead and Molson are my two Canadians. I like Stella Atois and Grolsch (not sure of spelling, I think these two are from Belgium). I also like Steinlager which I think is New Zealand.

I don’t know why but I prefer Canadian whiskey too and my fave is Crown Royal.

My wife is more the beer/ale connoisseur and her favorites are the Oregon IPA’s and most micro-brewed.

Great choices in that list. I love IPA’s (the hoppier the better) and your Lagunitas choice is spot-on. And everything Schlafly makes is delicious (I’m from St. Louis and visit the brewery often) but I’m very excited that they are doing more IPA’s now! One of my favorite beers of all time is Bell’s Two Hearted, which is just the perfect drinking beer. Other favorite IPA’s include Bell’s Hopslam (when it’s available), and Southern Tier’s Gemini.

Bourbon barrel stout is quite delicious. I think that would be on the top of my list along with Great Lakes Stout. For an ale I like Magic Hat too. So many good beers out there that I can’t just choose one!!

I’m so excited…I’ve wanted to try that Pumking beer since I saw you mention it before in a post, but for some reason I thought it wasn’t available in our area. I see per their website it is, so I’ve put my order in to the hubby for when it’s released this fall. Can’t wait to try it!

Some of our favorites are Buffalo Sweat Oatmeal Cream Stout, Trippel Ale with Coriander, and pretty much anything that comes out of our two favorite semi-local breweries: New Glarus and Surly (especially Surly Darkness if we can get our hands on it)!

Thanks for mention Buffalo Sweat from Tallgrass Brewing, my husband works there, their seasonal Vanilla Bean Buffalo Sweat is my favorite! I’m biased ;). Unfortunately Tallgrass is still small, and Is mostly sold in Midwestern states right now.
I love your list! Great topic!
I noticed your picture is all bottles. I think moose drool comes in cans. I just wanted to give a shout out to cans, better for the beer and the environment. You can read The Canifesto from Tallgrass Brewery here: http://www.tallgrassbeer.com/about/canifesto.

Hmmm, so many favorite beers! I really want to try the Bluegrass Bourbon Stout….sounds great. I’m living in CA now and the selection of craft beer is amazing. Have you or Matt tried any NINKASI beer?? It’s a brewery in Eugene, OR. They make a crazy Tricerahops Double IPA and their Oatis, Oatmeal Stout is one of my favorites!

Okay Kath, I’m a bit disappointed to not see a single Hefeweizen on your post. Hefe’s are the ideal summer beer refresher, so there has to be at least one that makes your list. Do you have one or are you strictly a high alochol, IPA, brown ale type girl?

Wow! This sounds like a great list of unique and interesting beers! I’m not much of a beer drinker but my son LOVES to try different ones so I am going to recommend he read this post. I think he’ll find it pretty awesome. Thank you for all the work you put into it. Have a great weekend 🙂

Pliny!! 🙂 The cult favorite that is so hard to find! Try anything from Firestone Walker, that is our local craft brew and they do an exceptional job on everything. They also just opened a “Barrel Works” bar at the original brew house in Buellton, which is all the barrel aged blending beers for the anniversary ales that have been aging for years. Super interesting stuff! Even some “wild beers” to try! Speaking of FW, tomorrow is the second annual Firestone Walker International Beer Fest, if you and Matt ever need an excuse to visit the Central Cali Coast make sure to do so during FWIBF!! Does.not.disappoint. In fact, the tickets sold out in 2 hours!!

Schlafly is one of my all time favorite pumpkin beers! Although O’Fallon Pumpkin takes the cake for me. My all time favorite is Southern Tier Creme Brulee. It’s seriously amazing! Slightly sweet with that burnt sugar finish. High alcohol too so I know you’d love it. And when are you going to come to STL so I can take you on a Schlafly tour?! 😉

YESSSSSS to O’Fallon’s Pumpkin beer!!!! I moved away quite a while ago and every Fall I want to go back to St. Louis just for their pumpkin beer. I’ve yet to find another pumpkin beer that I like as much, and I’ve moved around all across the country since so I feel like I’ve done some extensive research 🙂

i don’t drink beer super often, but i do like it. until recently, i hadn’t tried anything darker bc i assumed i wouldn’t like it. my first brown ale was so heavenly! my favorite so far is a brown ale by my local brewing company (saw works in knoxville), and i always like fruit beers.

i really want to try moose drool, as well as pumking and a bourbon barrel stout, since i’ve seen you talk so much about them.

My husband and I are big into beer and one of our favorite barleywines is Sucaba by Firestone walker (CA brewery..dont know if you get that down there,and only available once or twice a year). It’s bourbon-barrel aged and has a bit of heat (alcohol “burn”) to it,and it is amazing!!

Other winners ..central waters bourbon barrel barleywine, sierra Nevada Bigfoot, victory old horizontal, and samaels by Avery are a few other barley wine favorites.

I agree that 90 minute is a great DIPA!! Firestone walker also makes an awesome one called double jack,and if you ever make it up to Vermont…don’t miss out on The Alchemist’s “Heady Topper”!!!!

One more.. Ocsar Blues gas recently opened their brewery in NC somewhere….Dale’s Pale Ale, Ten Fidy are two of my favorites!

Have you given any thought to reviewing ciders (assuming you drink them)? I’m a craft beer lover recently diagnosed with celiac, and I always thought that I hated ciders, or at least that they took distant second place to “real beer.” But some are quite good! I was feeling sorry for myself at a bar one day, but they turned out to have an extraordinary bourbon-barrel aged cider on tap. Angry Orchard, Ace and Fox Barrel are standouts (and I just learned that Ace makes a pumpkin cider!! Schlafly had been my go-to).

OMG you guys are soooo cool to drink such neat beers!!! I’ve never tried anything this exotic, though I would love to!!!

I have you to thank for how much I’ve learned about oatmeal and kale–now I can branch out into beer, LOL! Thanks soooo much for this–I’m going to print it out and take it out with me and the BF this weekend, since you’ve totally given me the courage to try something new. :):) You rock!!!

This may be a local thing but have you heard of Not Your Father’s Root Beer Beer?! Its stronger than a typical beer but you can barely taste the alochol in it! It tastes EXACTLY like Root Beer!!! Best beer ever!!!!

Love your list Kath! Hailing from the Midwest, I would argue nothing beats a Leinenkugel’s SummerShandy on a hot summer day. For the remainder of the seasons, I rely on New Belgium Snow Day, Surly Furious (Minnesota pride!) and Three Floyds Zombie Dust. Hoppy = Happy 🙂

If you like Lagunitas, you should try some San Diego craft brews. I’m from So Cal, so I’m biased towards the southern crafts, but they’re actually quite similar and equally as amazing. Ballast Point’s Sculpin is absolutely FAN-tastitc. Strong, hoppy, grapefruit undertones. Green Flash Hop Head Red is also a favorite. And they give a great beer tour, if you’re ever in town. Great post Kath!

Great post, and thank you for being one of the gals who appreciate a good beer. My husband looks strange at me sometimes when I open a lager 🙂 but hey, at least he opens one too!
I tasted some Belgian beers before, strawberry, whtever. Never did the trick for me. I guess I’m just old fashioned.

I could never pick a favorite because it changes seasonally! Porters and stouts sound awful right now but light and fruity ales that were repulsive a month or two ago are filling up my fridge! But I did recently have an Old Dominion espresso stout called Morning Glory (in the morning after a 5k) that absolutely “wow”ed my palette. Breakfast beer needs to become a new trend. Bloody Mary’s are so 1996.

Great List! Agree on Dogfish 90 and 120! We were at Dogfishs brewpub two years ago and enjoyed a 120 with Sam! Such a kind and cute guy! Sneaky Pete Imperial IPA by Laughing Dog Brewery is one of my faves, although, it is a bit bitter instead of floral. Hopslam is always great, but Hoptimum is a tasty and easier to find! Southend in Charlotte, NC now has Triple C…very cool place and dog and kid friendly too. Love their Babymaker IPA and seasonal Up All NIght stout. Thanks to our kind neighbor and my awesome Mom we have been able to enjoy an abundance of Three Floyds from IN. I enjoy a wheat beer mostly during summer, their Gumball Head is awesome! For a pale ale, their Zombie Dust is perfect! We are sitting on a few Dark Lords to enjoy in a few years. As far as Southern Tier, that Crème Brulee rocks! We try to keep an extra one when its not in season to enjoy when the craving hits. Oh yeah, cannot forget Olde Hickory in Hickory, NC! Try their Event Horizon, Redeemer, or Death by Hops whenever ya find them. Sorry for the novel, but hope ya’ll can enjoy some new beers. Thanks for sharing your faves!

Great list! I am a huge fan of darker beers, and my current favorite is Dogfish Head’s Raison D’Etre, a mahogany ale. However, if I want a beer that I can drink anytime, anywhere, nothing beats a Yuengling.

Goose Island (based in Chicago) makes a really delicious Bourbon County Stout that you should try if you can find it!

The Pumking sounds delicious—wish I could find it in Wisco! I try to drink a lot of local beers, such as Central Waters Ouisconsing Red Ale and Point 2012, but I love Dirty Bastard as well. Great post!

I loved reading this post – especially the pumpkin category. I’m already googling where to find the Pumking in Charlotte! Have you ever rimmed your pumpkin beer glass in cinnamon and sugar? We discovered it in a Boston pub and have never looked back!

Choosing a favorite is REALLY hard. I’ve become partial to IPAs over the last year or two, and ever since I moved to Colorado I feel like drinking good beer is just a way of life!
I am a big fan of the local beers around here and Oskar Blues Dale’s Pale Ale and Upslope Brewery’s IPA are two favorites. I also LOVE pretty much anything from Avery – which is hard to find in stores, but I know that a restaurant that I went to in C’ville last year had it on tap!

Since you like the Dragon’s Milk and Pumking (love!!), if you haven’t had the Souther Tier 2X Chokolat yet, do it! It’s like liquid dessert!

I am definitely into rich, malty, but balanced when it comes to my favorite beers, although I like all different styles, especially in the summer, when more citrus-y and wheat-y beers get consumed. Buuuut I would say for favorite, I am a big fan of Oskar Blue’s Old Chub and Three Floyd’s Robert the Bruce, both Scotch ales.

I LOVE Little Sumpin’ Sumpin’! We just got back from California and visited Russian River Brewing and Anchor Brewery, and drove right by Petaluma! It wasn’t until the day before we left that I realized we should’ve planned a trip to Lagunits, but alas we couldn’t fit it in. There’s so much more wine in Sonoma for me to drink that I’ll absolutely have to plan a 2nd trip, and Lagunitas will absolutely be on the agenda.

HI Kath first off I came across your blog recently and love it and Oh my…I love this post!… See I know what beer I like, but I have no idea how to order beer. My favorite brewery has to be Sam Adams (I am from Boston)! There Summer Ale and October fest are my favorite seasonal beers, and Boston Lager is good all year around to my taste buds. I have recently found out though that Sam Adams is not as popular with everyone else . I went to lunch with a blogger who is moving to Boston from KC and her boyfriend had never had summer ale?! I was like WHAT!? Crazy to me! You ever try any of the North East Beers like Harpoon, Wachusett, or Sam Adams? Do any of the beers above remind you of any of those?

If you love Bluegrass Brewing Bourbon Barrel Aged Stout, have you tried Founder’s KBS? I know it can be incredibly difficult to get your hands on a bottle (even here in Grand Rapids!) but I’m guessing you would love it.